1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating an around view, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for correcting a tolerance generated in an around view monitoring system (AVMS).
2. Discussion of Related Art
An around view monitoring system (AVMS) of a vehicle is a system that receives images from four cameras (a front camera, a rear camera, a left camera, and a right camera) installed in the vehicle and shows the vehicle's surroundings from a bird's eye view.
Such an AVMS, which uses images captured by a plurality of cameras, essentially requires that tolerances be corrected when the cameras are assembled therein. To this end, each vehicle manufacturer corrects tolerances for a vehicle equipped with an AVMS to satisfy matching of an around view image and then releases the vehicle.
However, when the vehicle is continuously used after release, the tolerances corrected upon the release are changed due to various environmental factors such as vibration of the vehicle during driving, folding of side mirrors of the vehicle, and opening or closing of a door of the vehicle, and thus matching of an image is deteriorated.
Accordingly, this causes an inconvenience in that the surroundings cannot be accurately recognized because a driver uses a distorted around view image while driving or parking.
To overcome this inconvenience, the changed tolerances should be corrected. However, it is cumbersome to visit a service center or office capable of tolerance correction to correct the tolerances.
Accordingly, there is a need for an AVMS for correcting a tolerance when the tolerance is changed and providing a matching around view image.
In this regard, conventional tolerance correction methods include extracting ground feature points captured using four cameras during driving, re-estimating attitudes of the cameras, and reducing distortion of an around view image due to the attitudes.
However, unlike a service center or office capable of tolerance correction, a ground surface captured during driving is not flat and has a gradient (slope).
Accordingly, ground feature points cannot be extracted from such a captured result or an image corrected using extracted feature points can be rather distorted.